TENANTS OF THE CHURCH

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In the Church but not of the Church

When one of my students raised an issue with “TENANTS” of the church, of course, I knew he meant TENETS, but I played along in my mind and soon realized that in fact the church has TENANTS! 

TENETS are the established fundamental beliefs of the church, and TENANTS live in houses they do not own.

 A quick look at the New Testament shows 10 kinds of CHURCH TENANTS, or people who live in the church or appear like Christians but whose final destinations are doubtful:
1.       THE JUDASES: These people respond to the call to walk with Jesus, and indeed walk with him to the end, but never submit to His corrections and sell Him out when the price is right. (John 12:4-7, Mt 26:8-16)

2.       THE ANANIASES AND SAPPHIRAS: They pledge total support for the church as they see proper, but soon develop cold feet and unilaterally resign to partial commitment (Acts 5:1, 9)

3.       THE JUDAIZERS: They change the gospel of Jesus into another gospel by teaching that faith in Christ cannot save anyone until he also fulfils the requirements of the law and certain traditions. (Acts 15:1,2, Gal 1:6-9)

4.       THE SPIRIT-POSSESSED SLAVE-GIRLS: They speak, sing and even work wonders as if in praise of God and His people, but are actually inspired by devils (Acts 16:16-18)

5.       THE RICH YOUNG RULERS: They claim perfect personal righteousness, and even confess their need for salvation, but are not willing to follow Jesus as their Lord and perfect example (Mt 19:16-22)

6.       THE NICODEMUSES: They recognize and come to church leaders secretly, but would not acknowledge Jesus publicly (John 3:1-9, Mk 8:38)

7.       THE JOHN THE BAPTISTS: They proclaim and serve the Lord up to a point of personal difficulty, and turn around to doubt the Lord they once proclaimed (Mt 11:2-11)

8.       THE DEMASES: They serve the Lord for some time and turn to chase what the world is chasing (2Tim 4:10)

9.       THE DIOTREPHESES: Not wanting to serve under church authority, they hijack or set up churches where they have no authority higher than themselves (3 John 9-11)

10.   THE MULTITUDES: They come to church, listen to the word, and even quote Scriptures but all only in their quest for satisfying their physical needs (John 6:24-34, 66)

Are you a church tenant or you belong to the household of God?


#Preachthegospel #Hecametosetcaptivesfree #LivingforJesus

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